Monday, February 6, 2012

Local Bill Shenanigans

Thirty-five years ago, the North Carolina state legislature passed a local bill taking away the right of municipalities in Pamlico County to exercise extraterritorial jurisdiction (ETJ) subject to the same conditions that apply in all of the other 99 counties in North Carolina. In essence, this deprives citizens of Pamlico County of equal protection of the laws.

The original local bill also added preconditions to annexation that did not apply in other counties. The annexation provisions were repealed in 1983 by another session law, Chapter 636, Senate Bill 107, Section 37.1.

I believe Chapter 478, House Bill 1045 of the North Carolina General Assembly 1977 Session is an example of abuse of the local bill system and should be repealed.



1977 SESSION


CHAPTER 478
HOUSE BILL 1045

AN ACT TO AMEND CHAPTER 160A OF THE GENERAL STATUTES RELATING TO ANNEXATION BY MUNICIPALITIES IN PAMLICO COUNTY.

The General Assembly of North Carolina enacts:

Section 1.  G.S. 160A-44 is hereby amended by adding a new sentence at the end of the first paragraph to read:
"No territory in Pamlico County may be annexed under the provisions of this Part by any town or city with a population of 1,000 or less according to the most recent federal decennial census."
Sec. 2. G.S. 160A-25 is amended by adding at the end thereof the following new paragraph.
"No territory in Pamlico County may be annexed under the provisions of G.S. 160A-24 through G.S. 160A-30 by any town or city with a population of 1,000 or less, according to the most recent federal decennial census, unless the persons living in the area to be annexed vote in favor of annexation and the governing body shall not adopt an annexation ordinance until after a favorable vote has been obtained in the area to be annexed."
Sec. 3.  G.S. 160A-360 is amended by adding a new subsection (k) at the end thereof to read:
"(k)      No town or city in Pamlico County having a population of 1,000 or less, according to the most recent federal decennial census, shall exercise any extraterritorial jurisdiction or powers outside its corporate limits pursuant to the provisions of this Article."
Sec. 4. This act shall become effective upon ratification.
In the General Assembly read three times and ratified, this the 7th day of June, 1977.

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